четвртак, 27. децембар 2012.

Today I wondered how to properly split the screen when playing Minecraft in split screen with the Joypad / Split Scren Mod. Before I got a second monitor I just used the Windows 7 snap docking functionality to split the screen evenly between two Minecraft windows, and nowadays I just run each window on a separate display. But this works only for the two players, and is kinda ugly since window borders are still being displayed:

Here's a short tutorial on how to split screen semi-evenly for 3 players (can be expanded up to 9 players, I think) on a single monitor. You'll need the both programs and the Joypad mod, of course :). Also, I used a separate Minecraft.net account for each player, but I think it's somehow possible to use just one.

2. Run multiple copies of Minecraft (all except one must be running the Joypad Mod)

3. Run WinExplorer, click on the button "Refresh", go to the tab named "Style", and then click on each Minecraft window on the list and untick checkboxes "WS_DLGFRAME" and "WS_BORDER"

4. Minimize or close WinExplorer

5. Hide the taskbar

6. Alt+Tab into each Minecraft window and press the WinSplit keyboard shortcut to place the window where it seems appropriate. You can choose from at least 9 different placements with the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + [Num1 - Num9]. Try out different layout until you find the one that fits you, for example:

That's it! When you place the windows you can start playing. Open the world to LAN in one game and join from others.

TIP: To switch between Minecraft windows you can use Alt+Tab OR press 'E' (inventory key) - it will display the inventory screen which will also cause the Minecraft to release your mouse cursor, so you can navigate to the other window. You can close the inventory afterwards with the controller.

Chillin' around, 3p style!

Interesting piece of trivia - you can configure multiple copies of the game to use the same gamepad and thus controll all of them simultaneously. You can make an interesting challenge out of it - controlling multiple players on the same server at the same time, or playing multiple single player games at the same time :)